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'I was cautious and tried to stay as far away as possible,' he said. 'I heard no noise from them whatsoever.'

He and his helper were at a loss for what they were and what they could be doing there.

'I started looking them up to try and identify the animals,' he said.

Woof: Afraid, he stayed far away from the small, hairless creatures, but not before snapping a few photographs

Convinced: He said the curious creatures were congregating just across the highway from his store

He looked up 'hairless dogs' and 'hairless foxes' on the internet, but could not believe the results. 'Everything kept coming up chupacabra,' he said.

After he saw them the first time, he thought he would never see them again. He was wrong.

LEGEND OF CHUPACABRA

The word comes from two Spanish words - 'chupar,' to suck, and 'cabra,' goat.

The name comes from the animal's habit of drinking the blood of livestock, especially goats.

The first
reported sighting was In 1995, when eight sheep were found dead in
Puerto Rico with identical puncture wounds to the chest and completely
drained of blood.

Thus, the legend of the chupacabra was born.

Just last week he saw them again and contacted animal control.

'They insisted it was a coyote with mange,' Mr Cumptson said. 'I've seen a lot of coyotes. These animals don't look like coyotes. There's no way they can be the same animal.'

Mange, the common name for skin diseases caused by a parasitic mite, is highly contagious and often causes wild animals to loose their hairy coats.

Local officials aren't convinced they've got a living legend in their midst.

'Anybody that calls in a chupacabra — it's a coyote with mange,' Jack Bonner, Williamson County's trapper, said to the Statesman.

He said that there was a 'really, really, really nasty, ugly, mangy coyote that was over in that area' a few months before.

Chupacabras are known to be vicious beasts, but there have been no reports of animals being attacked in the area. Mr Cumptson believes that only time will tell the true nature of the beasts.

An animal control officer put out a trap today, Mr Cumptson said.

'Some friends think it might be a government experiment gone awry,' Mr Cumptson said. 'My best guess is this is some kind of a cross breed.'

There have been various 'chupacabra sightings' across the U.S. since 1995.

In March a hairless body of a possible 'hell beast' was found washed up on a beach in San Diego. While this latest instance may simply be a few 'mangy coyotes' the legend of the chupacabra is still very much alive.

Sighting? With its sun-bleached skin, giant fangs and blond mohawk, could this strange creature that was found on a beach in San Diego in march really be the legendary chupacabra?